Ian White scored the winning goal with a little over a minute remaining as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Sunday.
White’s slap shot fired past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with 1:22 on the clock, snapping the third tie of the contest and giving Toronto a first win in four games.
“I didn’t see much net there,” White told reporters. “But most butterfly goalies leave the corners open. I just happened to find one.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
The decisive goal came just 53 seconds after the Penguins had leveled the game at 3-3.
“We didn’t sit back and wait for overtime,” Maple Leafs Ron Wilson said. “We wanted to get the puck in deep.”
The loss prevented Pittsburgh from taking over first place in the Atlantic Division. Both Pittsburgh and New Jersey have 53 points with the Devils playing fewer games.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“We had a lot of resiliency out there,” White said. “We kept battling back.”
The defenseman also had an assist on Jason Blake’s second period goal that put Toronto ahead 3-2 before Pittsburgh tied the score on Mike Rupp’s tally with 2:15 left in the game.
“It was a game that was up for grabs and they got it,” Rupp said.
Lee Stempniak had a goal and two assists for the Leafs, who also got a first period goal from Luke Schenn.
Leafs’ Finnish netminder Vesa Toskala also played a key role in the win, stopping 21-of-24 shots.
“It was a tough game, because there weren’t a lot of shots,” Toskala said. “The guys did a good job in front of me.”
Sidney Crosby scored his 23rd goal of the season on a power-play for Pittsburgh in the second period for a 2-2 tie.
Matt Cooke tallied the Penguins’ other goal.
BLACKHAWKS 5, PREDATORS 4
Patrick Kane scored his second goal of the game with 43.4 seconds to play to cap a wild third period Sunday and lift the Chicago Blackhawks to victory over the Nashville Predators.
John Madden scored twice in the third for the NHL-leading Blackhawks, who beat Nashville on consecutive nights to open an eight-point lead in the Central Division over the second-place Predators.
Chicago trailed 2-1 entering the final period, went up 4-2, let Nashville tie it and then finally won on Kane’s team-high 15th goal.
Brian Campbell also scored for Chicago. Marcel Goc, Martin Erat, Dan Hamhuis and Cody Franson scored for Nashville.
CANUCKS 5, FLAMES 1
At Calgary, Alberta, Mason Raymond scored three times in a 14:15 span and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves for Vancouver.
Raymond scored twice in a 34-second span late in the first period to give Calgary a 4-1 lead, and completed the hat trick on a power play at 12:31 of the second.
Henrik Sedin and Kyle Wellwood also scored for Vancouver. Jarome Iginla scored his 20th goal for Calgary.
FLYERS 2, ISLANDERS 1
At Uniondale, New York, Jeff Carter snapped a second-period tie as Philadelphia beat the New York Islanders for the 13th straight time, 2-1.
Danny Briere also scored, and Michael Leighton made 28 saves.
Jon Sim scored for the Islanders.
BRUINS 2, PANTHERS 1
At Sunrise, Florida, Marco Sturm broke a tie early in the third period, Michael Ryder also scored, and Tim Thomas made 25 saves for Boston.
Dominic Moore scored for Florida.
SABRES 5, BLUES 3
At St Louis, Tim Connolly scored twice in Buffalo’s three-goal third period and had an assist, and Mike Grier also had two goals and an assist as Buffalo beat St. Louis.
Jochen Hecht added a goal for the Sabres, down 3-2 after two periods. Alex Steen scored twice, and Eric Brewer added a goal for St. Louis.
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